 "Photo: Jordy Wagoner/The Daily Texan")
Even though the Honduran ambassador to the United Nations had to cancel his visit, the Central American country was still in the spotlight Monday during a series of panels and lectures discussing last summer’s Honduran coup.
The Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies hosted the day-long, five-part lecture series, “Military Coup or Constitutional Succession? Foro Urgente on Honduras.”
Honduran Ambassador Jorge Arturo Reina was unable to attend as planned because of ongoing negotiations involving the Central American country.
The June coup, in which the Honduran military ousted and exiled President Manuel Zelaya, was the first in Latin America since the end of the Cold War. Gary Susswein, College of Liberal Arts spokesman, said the lecture series was a way to make students and faculty in the institute aware of the situation in Honduras.
“We have a world-class center to study issues important to Latin America,” Susswein said. “It only makes sense for us to bring in speakers to talk about this issue. The coup is one of the first in the region in a long time, and we want to educate people about what’s happening and prompt discussion.”
Paloma Diaz, the institute’s senior program coordinator, said it is important to raise awareness about this recent controversy. The institute — part of the College of Liberal Arts — serves students in undergraduate and graduate programs related to Latin American studies and languages.
“Many people didn’t even know where Honduras was before the coup,” Diaz said. “This has a huge impact not only domestically but in the way it has been handled by the government and the international community.”
Speakers at the event included UT government professors Zachary Elkins and Jeffrey Tulis; activist Miriam Miranda of Honduran human rights organization Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña; historian, politician and writer Darío Euraque, the former director of the Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia; and Michael Shifter, director of the Andean Program for Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.
During the time scheduled for Reina’s address, several speakers held an open panel discussion with the event’s attendees. The speakers and participants debated the constitutionality of the coup, citing professional and personal experience.
“The next book I’m going to write is about this coup,” Euraque said during the panel. “I was going to write a book about the history of sexuality, but I thought this was more exciting.”
